NCS Anima
The NCS Anima, also referred to as the NCSA or simply the Anima, is a video game console from NINE100 Studios. Announced as the first console from NINE100 Studios during the NCS 'Welcome to the Future' Event, it launched on October 30th, 2015 in North America and Europe. It competes with Sony's PS4, Microsoft's Xbox One, Nintendo's Wii U and IDI's Fusion as one of eighth generation of video game consoles. It is the first in the Anima console series. The architects of the Anima opted to implement a PC-style architecture to allow for easier development, in the hopes of attracting smaller developers that are used to simpler architectures. The console is also often touted as the best console on the market in terms of straight power, comparable to more high-end gaming PCs. A powerful custom microprocessor created by NCS engineers is supported by 16GB of GDDR5 RAM and an on-board secondary chip dedicated to gameplay capture, video streaming, downloading and other background tasks. A focus of NCS was 'immediate, social gameplay', which is supported by a game streaming service called NCS Velox. Gameplay sharing is also made simple via the "relay" button on the controller, which immediately opens an interface allowing the user to take screenshots, save video and broadcast their gameplay using various services including Twitch and Ustream. The Anima was the biggest console launch in history, with just over 2.5 million systems being sold throughout all regions. It's successor, the Anima 2, was released on October 26th, 2021. Hardware The original Anima has a "Sea Blue" finish, consisting of dark blue sides, a lighter faceplate and a teal light to indicate that the console is on. The design allows for easy creation of different color schemes, and the composition of the shell allows for easy user customization. Internal Hardware The hardware specification and design of the Anima was designed by a committee led by lead systems architect Brent Anderson. It utilizes a custom CPU consisting of two dual-core modules totaling four x86-64 cores clocking at just over 3.4GHz. The GPU, created in collaboration with Nvidia, has 2GB of memory and clocks at approximately 1058MHz. The Anima contains 16GB of GDDR5 RAM, with 2GB retained for the user interface, allowing for super high-end performance. There is also a fully custom chip to allow for secondary tasks such as gameplay capture and downloading to be performed during the use of any primary tasks. The Anima's hard drive, by standard, has 2TB of storage and is fully replaceable, and uses Blu-ray Disc optical drive. The console is manufactured by Flextronics. The Anima fully supports 4K resolution (2160p) video output, and there are no limitations in place to prevent developers from rendering their games at that resolution. It also supports standard 7.1 surround sound for home theaters. The Anima supports a HDMI input, but does not support composite or component video. Controller Tne Anima's controller is called the Enaction 1, and makes use of a traditional controller layout but with some unique features. The controller has a d-pad, symmetrical analog sticks, ABXY face buttons, two shoulder buttons and two shoulder triggers. Alongside these near universally standard components, there is also the home button, which can be tapped to take the user to the UI when in game and an options button, which are quite common but not part of every controller. In addition to these features, the Enaction 1 controller has some highly unique elements. The most prominent is the front touch pad, which can be used to navigate the UI as well as being available to developers to map whatever action they like to. There is also the relay button, which allows the user to immediately take high-quality PNG screenshots, record 1080p video and broadcast their game via Twitch, Ustream and, in Japan, Niconico Software and Services The Anima runs an operating system called Corpus OS, which is a propriety OS developed by an in-house team. As NCS did not wish to alienate any potential users, the Anima does not require an Internet connection to be used, although Anima Grid members will have an experience closer to the original vision of 'immediate, social gameplay'. They will be able to access the Anima Store to download digital games, and also stream games using NCS Velox. As well as this, members can also connect with friends, and are able to share screenshots and video publicly or privately in messages. Online multiplayer is also completely free for all members. The Anima supports playback of music and videos via audio CD, USB and DLNA servers. User Interface The Anima utilizes a fully customizable user interface called the Frontline Library, which allows users to display and sort content how they wish. User profiles display will be completely personalized, with users being able to choose a profile theme or color, select what aspects of their account are displayed and highlight their favorite media uploads. The secondary chip also allows less intensive applications such as Firefox without having to exit their game or media app. Applications As well as games, the Anima also allows users to utilize various applications including popular media applications such as Netflix and Spotify, among others. There are also several unique applications available such as the Reddit client Reddit is Fun, developed for Anima in collaboration with , and TamaX, a dedicated Tama application. Voice control The Anima supports a limited amount of voice commands which can be spoken through any compatible microphone. It has been suggested that the list of commands will be expanded in a later system software update. Web Browser The web browser is a modified version of Firefox, developed specifically for the Anima by Mozilla. It's very high HTML5 compliance testing score leads it to be the most advanced browser on consoles. Games Category:900bv Category:NINE100 Studios Category:NCS Engineering Category:NCS Anima Category:Consoles